Observing Infomercials Essay, Research Paper

Observing Infomercials

While watching late night infomercials on television I

asked myself, do the operators treat everyone the same? How

much do they know about the product they are selling and are

they concerned with your well being? To answer these

questions I preformed a few tests for two nights in a row.

First I acted like an elderly lady and then a regular middle

aged person.

The first number I called was selling an ionizer, or

air purifier. They hung up right away when they heard a

middle aged person asking if it would help with a gas

problem. To, my surprise when I called back as the elderly

woman they also hung up. The second number called was

selling a BowFlex body building machine. They also sensed a

prank from the middle-aged person but were very helpful to

Mildred, the elderly lady.

Mildred called back a second time and they were very

helpful and explain that it would most certainly help clear

the air, and went into full detail about how it worked.

Mildred also complained about the rudeness of the lady

reached before and they were very apologetic and helpful.

The Bowflex operator explained what the machine could do and

would do and seemed to know a lot about the product from

personal experience.

When Mildred asked if the ionizer was too heavy for her

to carry around the house, because she is just a feeble

old woman of 83 years, they explained the product was very

lightweight and anyone could move it without harm. Mildred

asked the BowFlex operator if an 83-year-old with arthritis

should participate in bodybuilding and they said yes not

caring for Mildred?s well being. Mildred, being an

inquisitive little dear asked if she could take it apart and

put it back together herself they also answered yes to this

question. I don?t know about you but I wouldn?t want my 83-

year-old, arthritic grandmother taking an exercise machine

apart and trying to put it back together.

My conclusion from this observation of infomercial

operators is that it really depends on which operator you

get, some are very informed and helpful while others are

just out to make a buck. From my experiment I observed that

the majority of infomercial operators are women and are

pretty well informed about the product and rarely have they

used it themselves. Considering all this I say, just go to

the store and check it out for yourself.